Ben-DutkaWe've been a little concerned that Uncharted 2: Among Thieves hasn't sold enough copies; at least, not enough to accurately reflect the greatness of that game.
Obviously, Naughty Dog and Sony wanted the sequel to sell more copies than the original title (an excellent game in its own right), but early on, we weren't sure how Uncharted 2 would fare… Last we heard, it had topped the 1 million mark about a month after release, which is good, but when compared to the other huge launches of the time – Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 , Assassin's Creed II , etc. – it seemed a little low. Yes, of course, Uncharted 2 is only available on the PlayStation 3 so it's not really fair to compare its sales totals to multiplatform titles, but the almost unanimous Game of the Year should definitely receive more love. And you know what? It kinda has. According to That VideoGame Blog citing a recent LA Times interview with Naughty Dog boss Amy Hennig, Uncharted 2 has now sold over 2.5 million copies. That's significant, because it's the total number of copies the original Uncharted sold over its lifespan; it seems the sequel matched its predecessor in less than four months. That's not too bad, especially for an exclusive game that isn't available to Xbox 360, Wii or PC owners.
Are they working on an Uncharted 3 ? Do you even have to ask…? I think we all know they are, and whenever they start cranking away on it – could be already – we'll be following that process very closely. This franchise could be the very best of the current generation when all is said and done…
Related Game(s): Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Fortunately for Naughty Dog, they live in the REAL world.
considering im the only person i know who has actually bought the game im now convinced most people bought a ps3 for movies and not games.
when you think about it i think the reason why most ps3 games have not sold very well is because most of the ps3 exclusives are new IPs.
look at all the famous ps1 or ps2 series they are either now dead, gone MP or have not received an next gen reiteration.
i mean crash bandicoot was the mascot of playstation, he was sonys mario, he was sonys master chief so they canned him.
than they had spyro so they canned him.
and the series that are still alive have not received new titles yet like twisted metal, GOW, syphon filter, GT.
the only famous playstation series that have had a next gen reiteration is ratchet and clank and metal gear solid.
and they both sold quite well, R&C FTOD was the best selling ps3 exclusive till MGS4 strode in.
but than comes the argument that 360 exclusives are new IPs and their also selling like hot cakes.
gears and ME for example.
i dunno i give up.
all i can say is things better change, ps3 exclusives better start selling 4M+ units otherwise were never going to see the amount of games we could.
i cant help but to believe gears, ME, alan wake, splinter cell conviction.
so many 360 exclusives would of not been so if ps3 games were selling that well.
if ps3 games sold how they should of from the start RE5, GTAIV, LA Noire, DMC4, FFXIII would of stayed exclusive.
we would have more exclusives too, and we would have more games pushing the ps3 to the limit.
i really, really, REALLY! hope Agent sells like 6M units+ that way developers say sh*t if we really put our money where our mouths are and produce one truly amazing title there is a market for it.
because at the moment its surely not looking that way, at the moment developers are looking at MW2, and uncharted 2 and thinking why should i spend all that cash and effort when im not going to see a reflect in sales?
no one knows how much both projects cost to make but im sure its safe to say that uncharted 2 would of cost a sh*t load more.
now developers are looking at that and saying why should i spend x amount of cash when i can spend x amount less and sell more copies.
bust your a$$ and almost go bankrupt, or put out the laziest game you possibly could.
i know which one id go for, but sadly thats not the one developers would go for.
games like 8 days, the getaway 3, and whatever sony London was working on would of never got canned or "put on hold" like they like to call it.
sorry guys but a potato will always a potato no matter what you call it.
I just believe there aren't many people in the loop like we are. We research and collect info on upcoming games so we know what's good and what's…what. We also have Ben to thank for some of that. So back to the point, we make it a habit to find out about our favorite hobby and how to get the best experiences out of it.
Now Sony has stepped up it's commercializing of the PS3 especially with Uncharted 2 and obviously it seems it has accumulated more fans in doing so. I'm pretty sure when Uncharted 3 rolls around that distant corner, more players will be waiting in anticipation. Gaming is all about trust and reliability of the developer. If the game is good, and the developer keeps developing better games, then it is inevitable that more people will purchase them. I know I'll be purchasing the next game. Uncharted 2 was a bundle of sincere fun from due to great voice-overs, awesome visuals, dynamic sounds, and solid game-play. Don't worry, next time around, Uncharted will get what's due. I'm sure of it!
I think we can blame america for the lackluster sales uncharted 2 was having when it was first released.
That's sad and okay but like Alienange said, what are the 30 million PS3 users doing with their PS3s? Astonishing…..
the trouble is, the ps3 has a wide audience, the 4 million users in japan wont care about this, neither will the ppl in the rest of asia, uncharted is quite a western game, when you think of it like that the western audience is closer to 20 million for ps3's, factor in ppl who only buy the console for there favourite games that they grew up playing on, plus ppl who are only casual gamers and play sports games with there mates, the target audience is much smaller, maybe 10mill, therefore the 2.5 mill is pretty good.
now take the 360, most of its exclusive, gears halo mass effect etc, are western games, now the 360 sells naff all except america 66% and europe 33%, therefore its target audicence for this kind of game is pretty high and therefore for west kind of games, the 360 will always outsell the ps3.
proof of this is ff13, 2 million sold in japan, thats 50% of ppl who own a console buying that game, now not even halo or gears has 18 mill units sold.
uncharted is more like a classic game than a game for the here and now, therefore the game will sell for a long time where as no one will buy CodMW2 in a few months as the next Cod will be coming out so everyone buys the game within the first few months to get their monies worth out of the game, therefore i recon the game will keep selling up until uncharted 3 comes out, so it should double its sales figures in its entireity. for example i bet the first uncharted had a second hit of sales when Uncharted 2 neared release, this was the case for me, i have a launch ps3 yet i only picked up uncharted a week before uncharted 2 came out.
Last edited by Cavan on 2/10/2010 6:07:39 AM
The first uncharted had a *HUGE* sales tail thanks to ongoing sales with bundles and the Greatest hits release.
2.5 million is still to low for that incredible game. Plus I hope Naughty Dog is bringing the Jak And Daxter series to the PS3 before they bring another Uncharted.
I agree 2.5 million is just to low for a game of this quality – the one thing that sticks in my mind is that during the time period that UC2 was released there were so many great games that came out – (MW2, AC2, Rachet and Clank, Borderlands, Demon Souls, Dragon Age) there were just so many choices out there that it might have impacted the sales – hopefully some of those sales will come later on and keep moving this number up!!!!
I profoundly have to agree with ________.
If the gamers actually would have given the developers reason to stay exclusive, by buying their games, there's a chance certain developers would have stayed exclusive. If The Agent stays exclusive, & sells VERY well, & wins awards, I`m sure Rockstar would like to duplicate that. How much you want to bet The Agent will be more well received than LA Noire? They will realize a PS3 exclusive game has potential to be the best game on the market at it's time of release. But we just must give Rockstar reason to stay exclusive, by purchasing games, ESPECIALLY exclusives.
Folks,
I really hate to burst the bubble of unreality that's going on here, but just how many copies of popular games do you think sell? The sales numbers for FPS games massively skew the sales numbers for PS2/PS3 & Xbox/Xbox360 games.
Look at God of War II – a game that most would agree is a phenomenal game on the PS2 – right? Well, the best information I can find for it's sales suggest that lifetime sales for the game are about 2.6-2.8 million. Remember, the PS2 has an install base of around 140 million, and even if you knock off 40 million for repeat purchases and idle systems, that's still 100 million PS2s. And yet a game like God of War II only sells 2.6 million copies – worldwide. OMG what a failure it is!
::rolls eyes::
Why is it that Uncharted 2 selling 2.5 million copies not even 6 months after release with a pool of about 30 million possible buyers is considered anything less than a huge success? Really, some folks around here need to learn a few things about the game industry.
That's a nice sugar coating job you did there even thought you pretty much back pedal in the ACII sale's article.
Great points Highlander.
Unfortunately, not everyone cares to look at the big picture. Honestly, I would say ND is extremely happy with the sales and like you said earlier, these games seem to have a long span in sales rather than huge upfront sales and then drop-off.
@Hexen,
What sugar coating? I am point out real world information to puncture unreal expectations.
What back pedal? I stand by every word I have written here.
If you want to know what I think about Assassin's Creed II and the success it has compared to Uncharted 2, I'll entertain you with a thought. Uncharted 2 features an every-man hero who goes through hell to save the girl, and 'the world' from the machinations of a bad guy. In ACII you play an assassin who has his motives, but is a hired killer. GTA you're a gang member – a thug – who's sole aim is to commit crimes of various sorts. FPS games are all about kills and kill/death ratios. ACII is one of the few games that gets close to Uncharted 2 in terms of presentation, but in story and the central character, they are poles apart. To me the difference is that more people want to be the bad guy, than want to be the good guy. Uncharted two is all about being the good guy. Believe it or not, I think that has an impact.
I also think that to an extent, Uncharted 2 requires more patience of the player – especially in the early chapters. The fact is that you are effectively playing in a flash-back for the entire first half of the game. Too many gamers today want instant success and instant gratification. Uncharted provides lots of satisfaction and gratification for your in-game actions, but also requires some patience from the gamer as the story develops.
Gears Of Wars VS Uncharted
GeOW 2 VS U2
This was really all I was looking and comparing in terms of sales.Don't get me wrong, I do not think sales equal quality and I honestly though U2 sold extremely well…..for a PS3 game.
I haven't played Gears of War, so I can't really claim knowledge of the game. M knowledge is limited to noting that all the marketing of that game portrayed it a combat centric, militaristic shooter in either first or third person perspective. Not really the same animal as Uncharted 2.
I'm not really sure about ACII, since I still don't have the extra cash to pick that up, but I know the original was centered around a good guy, just a good guy who got his job done in a questionable way.
I gave the full stats in a comment on a previous article, but (aside from Halo) the 360 top-sellers compare directly to the PS3 top-sellers in terms of percentage of system-owners (i.e., #2 vs #2, #3 vs #3, etc.). Gears and Gears 2 are higher on the list than the Uncharted games (for now).
None of which is to say I wouldn't want more people to buy them; I agree everyone should buy them, but there's no cause for proclamations of how bad Uncharted 2 (or 1) is doing. It's doing EXTREMELY well.
I just wanted to comment and give props to this game. Great game, great everything with this game. Even decent multiplayer and actually a good fun co-op element. Undersold and undervalued by the public. This was a kick ass game. Thinking about the graphics makes me proud to own a PS3.
Stay classy PSXextreme!
Last edited by Highlightreel on 2/10/2010 2:27:07 PM
It's sad to read "Assassin's Creed II sells 8 million copies" and "Uncharted 2 sells 2.5 million copies" on the same day
AC2 is a great game and all but if I had to choose, it'd be UC2.
Also I guess the AC2 sales count 360 :
I swear on Vgchartz (sorry isn't the most valuable site) Uncharted Drake's Fortune has sold just over 3 million 😛
Uncharted 2 is at 2.8 million